Page 23 of Charmed, I'm Sure

She points to one of the open tables outside. “Both of you. Sit.”

I blink. “Sit? Like…now?”

“Yes. Now.” She herds us toward the seats with all the authority of a drill sergeant.

“I have a shop to open,” I protest.

“And I have places to be,” Miles adds, though he’s grinning like he thinks this is going to be fun.

Elora plants her bag on the open chair with a thud. “You can spare five minutes. Festival committee emergency.”

My stomach drops. I don’t want to be here, sister or not. “If this is about me running the scavenger hunt again…”

“It’s about you running the scavenger hunt again,” she says, smiling like she hasn’t just sealed my fate. Clearly she hates me.

Elora's smile was radiant, a stark contrast to my own forced grimace.

Miles leans back in his chair like he’s settling in for a good time. “Bellamy, we were literally assigned this task. We haven’t even started discussing it yet.”

“Yes, and I was hoping if I ignored it and you long enough that someone else would be assigned the task.”

“That’s…not how volunteering works,” he says, clearly fighting a smile.

Nyx hops into the empty chair, pushing Elora’s bag to one side. His tail flicks like he’s already plotting my downfall.

Elora leans over and grabs a huge three-ring binder from her bag before slapping it down on the table in front of us. “I took the liberty of doing most of the work for you since I figured my sister would try something like this. Inside you will find routes, clues, and a list of places we need to talk to for permission. And before you ask it…yes…you’re doing this together.”

“I work better alone,” I say instantly.

“You work better avoiding people,”Nyx says in my head, his voice smooth and smug.

I take another sip of my coffee, avoiding eye contact with my sister. “Not helping.”

Elora ignores me. “You two have exactly one week to finalize the course so I can print the clue cards andstart hyping it on the town board. Which means—” She leans in, all sugar and sweet menace. “You’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

Miles lights up like someone just threw a tennis ball for him. “Sounds great. We’ll start today!”

He is practically vibrating with excitement. I whip my head toward him. “We willnotbe starting today.”

He leans towards me, eyes glowing with confidence. “Sure, we will. I’m free all afternoon, obviously. So, it’s a perfect chance for us to get to know each other. I mean, work on the project,” he says, smug as a dog who just found the toy you threw in hopes it would take a long time.

Nyx flicks his tail.“You should let him. Imagine the hexes you could do to him while he thinks he’s bonding with you.”His words whisper across my mind.

Bringing my coffee up for a sip, I hide my smirk. “I’m busy,” I tell Miles.

Elora slides the map towards me and winks.Ugh, of course she’s meddling because fate told her something.“Think of this as an opportunity for…bonding.”

I push the map back towards her with a flick of my wrist. “Literally pair him with anyone other than me,thanks.”

“Nope.” Elora stands, ignoring the map and my facial expression. She’s clearly pleased with herself. “You’re my dream team,literally.” She pats my shoulder—an invasion I only tolerate because she’s my sister—and adds, “Fate even said so.”

Miles raises an eyebrow, glancing between us. “Fate? What does she mean by that?”

“You could do it now,”Nyx suggests, voice like silk and mischief.“End him and this meddling business before your coffee is even lukewarm.”

I keep my face neutral. “Tempting.” I watch her walk away, sashaying like a cat strolling along a fence. She thinks she’s won already.

I stand abruptly, tucking my coffee under my arm as I turn to leave. “Well…this has been…awful.”